The pamphlet examines the background to the current crisis in the Middle East and the challenges this poses for the Left.

It highlights the importance of securing a sovereign Palestinian State with full powers as required by UN resolution.

It also argues that the political use of Islam, in terms of religious fundamentalism, has been a relatively new development, that the Middle East has a strong tradition of secular and socialist politics and that the rise of religious fundamentalism has been closely linked to the reactionary agendas of the regional allies of imperialism.

The pamphlet is based on contributions to the seminar organised in 2015 by the Coordinating Committee for Communist Parties in Britain and has been developed and updated with the cooperation of the International Commission of the Communist Party of Britain.